Rejected
by crobosky
Summary: Kenichi gets rejected by Miu. Will he find another love? (The answer is yes)
1. Chapter 1

Well I didn't expect to write this up, but it just sort of happened. I have another story going, but I feel like I might have bitten off more than I can chew at the moment. Then this idea comes along and gets in the way, now I have two stories going :\

* * *

"I'm sorry, Kenichi. It's not that I don't like you it's just... I guess I don't really see you THAT way..."

Kenichi hadn't expected things to turn out this way. He had been so sure about it, but now it was like his whole world was crumbling around him.

"Well... Shit..." Kenichi mumbled

Miu looked at him with... Was it pity?

"OK well... Umm... I uh, I'm gonna go now..."

He turned around and started walking away.

"Kenichi, I hope we can... Still be friends..."

Kenichi laughed at this.

"Friends? Yeah, that sounds great... I just need some time to myself..."

He left Miu standing there and walked out the gates of Ryozanpaku. He was surprised he held the tears back this long. How long had they known each other, and this is what happens? He should have seen it if she really hadn't felt the same way about him. Now it seemed as if she had been leading him on all this time. Maybe... He didn't really know her as well as he thought he did.

He had been wandering aimlessly for some time when he came upon something interesting. He saw Kisara crouching behind some bushes looking across the street at a café.

"Hey, Kisara, what are you loo- oh..."

Kenichi paused mid sentence when he saw, across the street, Ukita and Freya sitting at a table. It looked like they were enjoying themselves.

"Oh, I see... I didn't realize they were..."

It was at this point that Kisara looked up at Kenichi. Her eyes were red and wet, but she seemed more pissed than anything.

"She said she was going out on a date, but she wouldn't tell me who with. So I followed her... I didn't expect..."

She broke off and looked back, trying to hide the fresh tears.

"Well hey, they're friends, it's normal for friends to hang out. Maybe it isn't what it looks li-"

As soon as he said this Freya and Ukita leaned towards each other and they started kissing.

"Eh, yikes. Well OK, so it is what it looks like..."

Kisara stood up abruptly and started to walk away.

"Asshole..." She muttered while passing Kenichi.

"Hey wait... What did I do?"

Kisara turned around and sighed,

"Not you." She nodded in the direction of the two across the street.

"Come with me, I need someone to bitch at."

Kenichi took one last glance across the street.

"What a day this has turned out to be." he muttered to himself as he followed her.

They had been walking for a while, stopping only so she could curse loudly and kick some trashcans, and once so she could play with a stray cat. Eventually they came to an apartment complex and she started to head for one of the doors; Kenichi stopped.

"Wait… is this where you live?"

Kisara looked back, "Yeah, why?"

Kenichi didn't move.

"Oh come on you nerd, it's not like I'm going to rape you or something."

She turned around then paused again.

"Maybe…"

She went inside and Kenichi followed her, somewhat timidly.

Inside what Kenichi saw was a fairly standard apartment. No decorations to speak of and just enough furniture for a person living on their own.

"Have a seat… er… somewhere" Kisara said, waving him into the living area before she turned to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge.

"Fuck, I am gonna get DRUNK! Hey! you want a beer?"

Kenichi didn't have time to decline before she threw a beer at him.

"Are you sure we should be-"

"What? Getting drunk? HA! I'm a delinquent remember? It's part of the job description!"

Kenichi laughed and decided he would have just this one, it would be rude to decline.

Kisara finally came in to the room and sat down, taking a long swig of the beer in her hand, she had brought several others and set them beside her.

"Can you believe those two? And out in broad daylight too! If they didn't want me to find out they could have at least tried to hide a bit better!"

Kenichi thought about that; it did make sense...

"Maybe they did want to get caught. Sometimes that's easier than confronting someone outright."

Kisara scoffed. "Heh, cowards…"

She continued to drink, having already finished one and moved on to another.

"But you know what makes it worse? I should have seen this coming! She was always fuckin' talking about him, or asking me why I hadn't made a move yet… Damn it! I wasn't ready yet!"

More drinks.

"But that bastard Ukita… always fawning over me…"

*drink*

"I guess even he would get tired of waiting…"

She continued to complain for some time. She finished her drinks and got more, giving another to Kenichi. She was clearly quite drunk at this point.

"But ya wanna know somethin'? I didn't REALLY like him all that much anyway! I was jus'... usin' him as way to… to get my mind off of someone el-"

She stopped in the middle of saying this, and let out a tiny burp.

"Stupid milk cow… evrthing goes perfec for her…. dunnit?"

She passed out.

Kenichi sat for a moment staring. Milk cow? Since when was that what she called Freya?

Kenichi decided he probably shouldn't hang around, so he pulled out her futon, picked her up gently, and set her in it. She curled up like a tiny kitten under her blanket, which had kittens printed on it.

"Shit… even I can see how cute that is…"

He picked up the trash she had generated and threw it away, turned out the light, and left.

He stopped outside the door and realized he couldn't lock it from the outside. He would have felt awful if something happened to her because he didn't lock the door, so he sat down in front and leaned against the door frame.

"I didn't really feel like going back anyway."

He sat there for a long time thinking about what had happened that day, it was... eventful. Eventually he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he woke up to the door opening.

"Hey dummy, why'd you sleep at my door like some weird homeless guy?"

Kisara was standing in her doorway, hair a mess, looking groggy from the night before.

"I couldn't lock your door from the outside and I didn't want to leave like that."

Kisara rubbed her forehead with her hand.

"You could have locked it with my keys and put them back through the mail slot."

He looked at the mail slot on the door and made a face.

"Oh... Yeah I could have... Well shit..."

He sighed and shook his head.

"Well I should be heading back, they're probably worried."

He was walking away when Kisara spoke.

"Hey, did I... say anything weird last night?"

"Huh? No, by the end I could barely tell what you were saying anyway."

"Oh... OK. Well see ya."

Kenichi found Miu standing at the front gate when he got back. When he got close to her she slapped him.

"OUCH! What was that for?!"

"Where were you all night?! We were all worried!"

"I... Stayed at a friend's place..."

"Well after the way you left yesterday... You could have at least called to let us know."

Kenichi shrugged.

"Yeah sorry. I forgot."

"Kenichi... Are we going to be OK?"

Kenichi, who had started walking inside, looked back and said, "Of course we are, we're friends remember?"

As he walked inside Master Sakaki called out to him.

"Hey kid, good timing! Just had a phone call for you!"

"Oh yeah? Who was it?"

"It was that one feisty girl, the one that likes cats"

"Oh Kisara, what did she want?"

A big grin came over his face.

"She said thanks for last night."

Kenichi stopped, blood draining from his face. SHIT. That big grin, he knows how that sounds, and he probably knows what happened with Miu yesterday.

"Stayed with a friend, huh?"

He turned to see her storming off towards her room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Look, I'm not mad at you guys… I'm already past that. I'm just wondering why you guys didn't tell me sooner."

Kisara was sitting across from Ukita and Freya in her living room. She had answered her door to find them standing there holding hands. She looked at them surprised, she hadn't expected them to come to her. They had come to set things straight after hearing how she had been seen yelling curses about them on her way home the day before.

Ukita had remained silent the whole time. His face was bright red and he looked somewhat ashamed.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner. We just weren't sure how you would react so we… we decided to keep it a secret for a while."

"Well, whatever the reason, it's behind us now. Congrats you two, it's about time someone in our group was happy."

Freya glanced over at Ukita then back at Kisara. She suddenly had a sly look on her face. Kisara got the feeling she wasn't going to like what she was going to say next.

"Actually… that's another reason we came to see you. We heard that you might have… done something with uh… someone… last night."

"Someone…? Oh! You mean him! Yeah, I made him come over yesterday after I saw you guys, then I had to boot him off my front step this morning!"

Freya's eyes widened.

"You mean… you and Kenichi? Since when?!"

Kisara looked puzzled. What did she mean by that? Suddenly she realized.

"What? Oh! Fuck! That's not what I meant! He found me spying on you guys at the cafe and I made him come back here with me so I could bitch at him. Then he slept outside my front door when I passed out because he was too dumb to lock the door with my keys and put them back through the slot. God! What, did you guys think we hooked up or something? Ha!"

Despite her casual dismissal of it, the thought of something like that made her turn red.

"Oh… so he just came here so you could bitch at him? And… he was ok with that? I mean… after what happened to him I would figure that's the last thing he would want to deal with."

What was she talking about now? He had seemed fine to her…

"What do you mean? Something happened to him?"

Freya nodded.

"Fuck yeah something happened, you idiot! He finally confessed to Miu yesterday and she shot him down!"

Kisara went cold. No, that couldn't be. She was always so possessive of him, there's no way she would turn him down. Shit! She started shaking her head. God, she had been stupid! He was probably just out clearing his head and then he had to put up with my shit the rest of the day! FUCK! And then that phone call! That was just the icing on the cake... she had meant the thanks, but the misunderstanding it might have caused had made her laugh.

"Look, I wouldn't worry about it. Kenichi's a nice guy, I'm sure he didn't mind."

Kisara shook her head again, but didn't say anything. Freya looked over at Ukita and motioned toward the door.

"Look girl, we're gonna get out of here. Sorry to bust up your day like this."

"Oh! I uh… T-That's fine. Get your asses out of here before I change my mind about you guys."

Kisara faked a smile as they left and she shut the door behind them. She stood leaning against the door for some time before she made up her mind. She had been thoughtless with Kenichi yesterday and she needed to go apologize. At this she headed out for Ryozanpaku.

Finally, she came to stand in front of the gates. She tried to push them open, but was barely able to move it. She put one foot up on the door and pushed it open that way. Inside it was quiet. She didn't see anyone, but from her experience that didn't mean anything. That crazy sword lady, for one, was always hanging about from trees and rafters. As she walked inside she heard Kenichi call out.

"Hey Kisara!"

She stopped as he ran up to her. He didn't look entirely happy.

"What the hell was that phone call this morning? You do realize how that sounded, right? I've been in deep shit around here because they thought… well… they misunderstood."

"Well I meant it as a joke, but I didn't realize… about Miu…"

Kenichi looked at her then his head fell slightly.

"Ah… you've heard… yeah, I had just come from that when I found you."

"Oh god, I'm really sorry I dragged you to my apartment and made you listen to my bitching. That was probably the last thing you wanted to hear about."

He looked up at her again and smiled.

"Don't worry about it Kisara. I left yesterday to get my mind off of it and that's exactly what happened. Also, you didn't drag me anywhere, remember? I followed you. If I hadn't wanted to go I wouldn't have."

Kisara turned slightly red. Shit! Why did he have to be like this? He was way too nice for his own good! She looked around. She could see the masters hiding poorly behind trees and doorways watching them, buncha dorks. She did not see Miu though.

"So where is that hussie? I'd like to go give her a piece of my mind!"

Kenichi lowered his voice.

"Yeah… she's been avoiding me since your call this morning. If you meant for someone to take that the wrong way, it DEFINITELY worked on her. Plus master Sakaki keeps walking up and patting me on the back. Master Kensei even gave me a camera and said 'Bring me the good stuff!'. That lech, I'm tempted to take some pictures of Apachai at the bath and give those to him."

They both laughed.

"So are you sure you're alright?"

"Me? Yeah, I'll be alright. Master Akisame is giving me extra exercises to help 'clear my mind'. Heh, we'll see how that goes, I'm just afraid he's gonna break out one of his weird machines."

Kenichi paused.

"What about you? You gonna be alright?"

"Sure, I'll be fine. They came over today and we talked. It's all cool now. And if it's not? I'll just call you up and we can get drunk again!"

Kenichi laughed.

"Yeah, you do that. Though, to clarify, I didn't get drunk. That was just you."

"You slept outside my door."

"I told you why I did that! I wasn't drunk!"

Kisara laughed this time.

"Whatever, you lightweight. I'll see you around."

She gave him a punch on the arm and started to leave.

"Hey Kisara!"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"I meant what I said. If you need to talk again, call me up any time."

Kisara nodded then hurried out before he could see her turning red.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After Kisara left, Kenichi was subjected to more pats on the back from master Sakaki. He had never seemed so proud of him before. Suddenly master Akisame was behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It seems this young man needs some more 'mind clearing exercise', don't you think?"

He suddenly felt very afraid. His master's grip on his shoulder grew tight and he led him to the back of the dojo. In front of him was the worst machine he had ever seen. Ropes, chains, candles, gears, needles, and for some reason in front of where he assumed he would be strapped in, there was a carrot hanging from a string.

"Oh HELL no!"

Kenichi yelled and struggled.

"And I'm not a damn donkey!"

Fight as he tried, he still ended up strapped into the death machine.

"You were gone most of the day yesterday, so we need to make up for the training you missed!"

"What, by killing me?! Don't you see how that could be counterproductive?!"

His master simply smiled.

"Killing? That's nonsense. This will make you stronger. And… if you do happen to die it won't be the first time! We can just resuscitate you… probably…"

The next few hours passed in a blur of pain, candle burns, and pin pricks. Finally he was set free from the hell machine and he collapsed next to it. Akisame walked over and grabbed the carrot, then tossed it on the ground next to him.

"Eat up, you need your strength."

Later, after he had recovered a bit, he began to think about Miu again. He still hadn't seen her the whole day and he was getting worried. He assumed she was still in her room, so that's where he went. He stood in front of her door. He needed to talk to her about this and clear up the misunderstanding, but he was afraid of how angry she might be. He knocked.

"Miu… it's me. We need to talk."

He was met with silence. Maybe she was out somewhere… Finally he heard a voice.

"Go away!"

He hesitated. Throwing a whole dumptruck full of caution into the wind, he opened the door anyway. Inside, Miu was sitting on her bed leaning against the wall. She looked startled.

"I said go away! You can't just come in here!"

He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He sat down on the floor in front of her bed.

"Miu I'm sorry, but we need to talk. I can't just leave it like this…"

"What is there to talk about? I shot you down and you went and immediately found someone else, I can't blame you for that."

Yikes… she really had taken that phone call the wrong way.

"Look, I was upset yesterday. I had spent so long being sure that you felt the same way about me. It had never occurred to me that you might not, so it really hurt when you turned me down. But that's my fault, not yours. I had unrealistic expectations."

She looked away from him and stared at the wall.

"You can say that... but it doesn't change what you went and did."

Kenichi sighed.

"That phone call… it wasn't what it sounded like."

He didn't know if it was his place to tell her this, but it was the only way to clear things up.

"You know how it's seemed like Kisara and Ukita might like each other? Well, after I left yesterday I just wandered around. I happened to find Kisara. She was spying on Ukita and Freya. Turns out they were on a date, and she was obviously upset about it."

Miu looked back at him surprised.

"Well they're all friends, maybe they were just hanging out."

Kenichi laughed.

"That's exactly what I started to say, but… well… that's when they started kissing. Not much doubt at that point what was going on."

"So what does that have to do with you spending the night at her place?"

"Well, she got up to leave and asked me to come with her. She needed someone to vent to and I was the only person available. I didn't realize where we were going and we ended up at her place. All we did was talk, she fell asleep, and I left."

Kenichi paused, the next part still made him feel like a dumbass.

"Well, I got out the door and thought that I couldn't lock it. So I ended up sleeping in front of it, just in case. For some reason it never occurred to me to use her keys and drop them back through the mail slot."

Miu laughed.

"So you spent the night sleeping outside her door? Like some weird homeless guy?"

"Yeah… that's what she said too. She had made the phone call as a joke because she figured someone would misunderstand it. She came by today to apologize; turns out news has already spread about what happened with us."

Miu sighed and rubbed her eyes. He hadn't realized it but they were red. Had she been crying?

"So nothing happened and I just got pranked by Kisara?"

"Yeah, I guess that's one way to look at it. You're not the only one who believed it though. All the masters have been acting weird around me too."

He paused again.

"Look Miu, my feelings for you aren't going to disappear overnight, even if you did turn me down. That's fine though, I've had time to think about it. I do want us to remain friends, that's something that's really important to me. Especially after all we've been through, for it to end like this would be… well… stupid."

Miu smiled. He hadn't seen her smile since before yesterday. Even though she turned him down, even if there wasn't a chance that they would ever be together, that smile would always make his heart jump.

"Kenichi, I should apologize too. I've been aware of your feelings for a long time; I guess I had just been hoping that you would give up on your own and find someone else. I couldn't bring myself to tell you outright how I felt because I didn't want to hurt you, but instead of making it easier for you I just hurt you worse. I was serious when I said I wanted to stay friends. You are my best friend and hurting you like that has really torn me up."

Kenichi stood up. He probably shouldn't stay in here too long or the masters might have something new to pester him about.

"I understand. This has affected us both, and you'd probably agree that we're both at fault for how it turned out. From now on let's just try to be friends like before. Obviously not exactly like before, on my part at least, but as close to normal as possible."

Miu stood up and gave him a hug. It was a long hug. One that said sorry, everything's going to be alright, thank you for understanding… She finally let him go and he turned to the door. He peeked outside to make sure the coast was clear. He didn't see anyone so he slipped out quietly.

"Kenichi! What were you doing in my granddaughter's room for so long?"

The elder was standing behind the door. Kenichi looked up at him and felt the blood drain from his face for the second time that day. He sighed.

"Well… shit."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

GOD this is awkward!

Kisara was sitting uncomfortably on the far edge of her seat. Ukita and Freya had invited her to see a movie. Normally she wouldn't have gone, but she had been holed up in her room for too long so it had seemed like a good idea.

I'm glad THEY'RE enjoying themselves. Why the hell did I think this was a good idea?

The two of them had hardly parted lips for the duration of the movie so far, and the longer it went on the more rambunctious they became. It was bad enough to be the third wheel, but this? HA! This was a joke! Surely they just invited her for the laugh, if they could find the time to part long enough for one. Even now Freya was practically laying on top of him, her feet squirming about on the floo-

"Oh for FUCK'S SAKE!"

Kisara hadn't meant to yell it out loud, but she had had enough. One of Freya's feet had risen up and knocked a bucket of popcorn over on her lap. She stood up and brushed herself off, then stormed out of the theater. She waited for a bit to see if they would come out too, then she headed home. She wasn't going to hold this against them, what had she expected them to do?

It was late by the time she got home, so she made a small dinner and ate it. Then she had a beer. Then a few more… Before she knew it she was a bit drunk, and very bored. A bad combination. Normally this is when she would call Freya up and she would come over and get drunk with her. They would chat about whatever and laugh it up until they passed out. She sat there for a while and then she looked at the phone and had an idea. She crawled over to it and picked up the receiver, dialing the number for Ryozanpaku. It rang and then she heard a loud voice.

"APA! We have your child held hostage!"

"Apachai NO! We told you to stop answering the phone like that!"

There was a rustling on the other side of the phone, and now it was someone else's voice.

"Hello? Sorry about that, he takes his jokes too far sometimes…"

"K-Kenichi?

"Huh? Yeah, this is him… is this… wait, Kisara? Are you drunk again?"

"I… need your help…"

"What? Are you in trouble? You sure it can't wait until tomorrow? It's getting late."

"Just… just get your ass over here…"

She heard him sigh.

"Alright, I'll be over there in a minute, but you better need help with something legitimate."

*Click*

* * *

Kenichi rushed over to Kisara's apartment and knocked on the door. When he didn't hear an answer he tried the knob. It was unlocked. The room inside was dark, but he could see cans littering the floor leading up to a lump in the middle of the room.

"Yeah... I thought so... drunk again."

He shook his head and started picking up the cans as he made his way into the room. After throwing them away he turned his attention to the lump in the middle of the room. Kisara had apparently not even bothered to hang up the phone, as she was now using the receiver as a pillow.

"Shit, you really pass out hard when you drink too much."

He took the receiver from under her head and put it back on the cradle. Next he turned on the light, but she still didn't move. Her hair was wild and she had a bit of drool by the corner of her slightly open mouth. He could hear her snoring faintly.

"Shit... she needs to stop sleeping when I'm around... she's too damn cute..."

Since turning the light on didn't wake her he went to the kitchen and got two pans. He walked over by her and smashed the pans together repeatedly.

"GET UP!"

Kisara jerked awake.

"WHA-WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"I said, 'GET UP!'"

She looked up at him as he continued to smash the pans together. Finally she kicked his legs out from under him and the pans went flying as he hit the floor.

"What the fuck was that you asshole? I was sleeping peacefully! And... What the hell are you doing in my apartment anyway?!"

Kenichi righted himself and rubbed his forehead.

"You called me a bit ago and said you needed help with something. When I came in and saw the way you were sleeping, I assumed you meant you needed help waking up. So I obliged."

Kisara looked at him for a moment and then they both laughed. She wiped her mouth and tried to tame her hair.

"Well thanks, dumbass. I'm awake now, and it's the middle of the night."

"Hey, you were the one who called me out here! Why did you get drunk to begin with?"

Kisara sat there and thought, then she told him about the movie. Kenichi chuckled.

"So you went to a movie with them, and expected them to NOT do that? There's your mistake right there. If you didn't want to be a third wheel you should have brought your own date."

"Oh right, and who am I supposed to invite? I'm not dating anyone, and the person I'm actually interested in probably wouldn't want to go with me anywa-"

She abruptly stopped talking and turned red. It was obvious the alcohol was still affecting her and she had said more than she meant to.

"Oh, so you're interested in someone? Is it someone I know?"

"I... I'm not telling you. That's... personal information."

Kenichi chuckled. It wasn't like her to get bashful like that, so he decided to push it a bit further.

"Oh come on! I bet it is someone I know, isn't it? Is it Takeda? Tanimoto?"

He smiled, "Don't tell me it's Niijima?!"

She threw a shoe at him, but he caught it and tossed it aside.

"Hey now, remember I'm only here because you called me and said you needed help with something. Maybe I can help out with this!"

She shook her head and looked up at him. There was something curious in her eyes, but he figured it was just the beer.

"Well, since you don't seem to need help with anything I should probably head back. It's been a week and I've only now been able to convince the masters that nothing actually happened when I was out all night that time. So I'll see you around."

He walked to the door and heard her call out his name. He turned around.

"Kenichi... you said I could call you anytime..."

"Yeah, and that's true. Just... next time try not to be in a beer coma."

He smiled at her and closed the door.

* * *

Kisara saw the door close and then saw her keys drop through the mail slot. She smiled. She hadn't seen him grab the keys.

"Shit... I can't believe I let it slip that I was interested in someone..."

At least she hadn't accidentally said who. Then things would have gotten really embarrassing. There was no way she could just up and tell him that she was interested in him. She'd been harboring these feelings for a long time, and she secretly was a bit happy when Miu turned him down. It had not, however, made it any easier to find time to hang out with him. He was always training or off somewhere with one of the masters, and he still went out shopping with Miu to carry the bags.

"Fuck, this sucks!"

She heard a knock at the door. Heart racing, she ran up and answered it, but it was only Freya.

"Hey girl... can I come in?"

Kisara stepped to the side to let her pass and shut the door.

"What's up? Have a fight with Ukita?"

Freya sat down and looked at her.

"Huh? Oh... no, he and I are fine. I just... I feel really bad about earlier. I figured I should come apologize, and maybe hang out for a while if it was alright."

"Look, it's no biggie. I should have expected it."

"Just because you might have expected it doesn't mean it was right for us to be like that with you there. Seriously, I'm really sorry."

"Alright, alright. You are forgiven, now stop talking about it. Maybe you'd like a bee-"

Kisara looked over at the trash can. It was full of beer cans.

"Well... I would offer you a beer, but it looks like I wiped those out earlier."

They both laughed.

"Oh, by the way... I saw someone heading away from your apartment on my way here... It looked like Kenichi."

Freya had that stupid sly smile on her face again.

"Yeah, apparently I called him when I was drunk and told him I needed help with something. He hurried over just to find me passed out surrounded by beer cans."

When she heard this, Freya shook her head and laughed.

"You know, if you keep stuff like that up he might actually fall for you. I've heard that guys nowadays really fall for drunken slobs."

Kisara tried to kick her, but she lost her balance and ended up on the floor next to her.

"I guess I haven't really made a very good impression with him have I?"

Freya laid down next to her, both of them looking up at the ceiling.

"Oh I don't know. You have your own charm. Maybe if you wouldn't be such a doofus all the time he would see how cute you are."

Kisara blushed.

"I'm sure he wouldn't see me that way. Besides, I'm a delinquent, what kind of nice guy would want to go out with me?"

"You really are down on yourself too much. I mean look, he came over when you said you needed help didn't he? That's got to count for something."

She sighed. She didn't want to get her hopes up too much.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kenichi came running back to Ryozanpaku. It was later than he had intended to be, so he decided it would be best to try to sneak back to his room. He didn't see any lights on, so it was easier than he expected. As he was reaching for the door to his room he heard a whispered voice.

"Kenichi?"

He turned around and saw Miu.

"How was Kisara?"

Ah, so she already knew. That would make explaining easier.

"She was fine. Turns out she didn't really need help with anything, just another joke of hers."

Miu looked doubtful.

"That's it? Just another prank?"

"Yeah, basically."

"She called you out in the middle of the night just for a prank?"

"She had been drinking. More drama with Ukita and Freya. Nothing serious, I think she just had a bad day."

"Ah, so you rushed over to the apartment of a drunk girl in the middle of the night."

Kenichi was getting annoyed. Why was she grilling him like this? He hadn't really been gone for very long. Nothing happened, and now he was back. He was tired, she probably was too. That's what this was, she's probably just tired because she stayed up until he got back.

"Look, it's late. We should probably both get some sleep."

"Kenichi wait… I'm sorry. I don't mean to be like this. It's just that you rushed out of here without really saying why. I was worried."

"Oh… ok. Yeah, I probably should have explained. I just figured that the faster I got over there, the faster I could get back. I didn't mean to worry you."

Miu nodded but didn't look quite finished.

"You… you do know how it looks when you go rushing over to a girls' apartment in the middle of the night, right?"

Kenichi sighed. So it WAS about that.

"Miu, the fact that it wasn't like that aside, I'm not really sure why you would care to begin with. It's not like we're dating and I secretly went out to see someone else."

"No I… I know. I guess I'm just tired. I'm sorry."

"That's ok. I'm pretty tired too. I'll see you tomorrow"

He went into his room and closed the door. What the hell was that about? It's not like he had gone out for a rendezvous with a secret lover. He laughed quietly. I mean… this WAS Kisara he was talking about. Suddenly the image of her sleeping came to mind. Well… she was pretty cute… He shook his head, those thoughts wouldn't do. She was a friend, he shouldn't think about her like that. He fell asleep quickly after flopping down on his bed.

The next day Miu was back to her normal self and the day went by as usual; training, training, training, resuscitation, training, training, breakfast, training, etc... A few days went by like this until one afternoon the phone rang. He had to race Apachai to the receiver. For some reason he got a kick out of acting like he had kidnapped people's children. He wasn't sure where that came from, but it was odd.

"Hell-"

"APA! WE HAVE YOUR-"

"Apachai, shut it!"

"Sorry, hello? This is Kenichi."

…

"Ukita, hey what's up… a movie? Yeah sounds good, who's going? … you're not sure yet? Well, ok. I guess I'll see you then. Thanks."

He hung up the phone. Miu came over.

"Who was that?"

"Ukita, he invited me to go see a movie."

"Are you going?"

"Yeah, I haven't hung out with everyone in a while so this will be a good chance. You want to go?"

Miu looked disappointed.

"Oh, I wish I could, but I've got a lot of stuff around here to get done. Then I have to go shopping. Don't worry about that though, I can get one of these lazy bums to help. You just go have fun."

At the appointed time Kenichi showed up at the theater. He saw Ukita, Freya, and Kisara. She looked at him weird as he came up.

"Wh-What are you doing here?"

"Oh… Ukita invited me. So who else is coming?"

Ukita glanced over at Freya and then back at him.

"This is actually it. Uh… Nobody else could make it."

Kenichi shrugged.

"Oh well, their loss I guess."

They went in to see the movie, the two girls sitting in the middle. About 20 minutes into the movie he heard some sort of shuffling on the other side of Kisara. He leaned up and looked over to see that Ukita and Freya were not, in fact, very interested in the movie. He sat back and sighed, at least he would enjoy the movie. He watched for a couple more minutes, then he looked at Kisara. She was clearly uncomfortable.

"Hey uh… do you want to get out of here?"

Kisara looked at him. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. Her face said it all.

"Come on."

He stood up and started to leave. She followed. He looked back at the other two, but they didn't seem to have noticed. Out in the lobby he turned to Kisara.

"Yikes, I can see what you meant about last time. I'm not sure how you put up with them."

"Yeah, fuck that shit. You'd think they could part lips at least when they're with other people. I mean, why even bother with the movie if they're going to do that?"

Kenichi laughed.

"Considering what happened last time I'm surprised you came with them again."

"They said it would be different this time. You can see how hard they actually tried at that."

He laughed and looked around.

"Well, I'd feel bad if we weren't somewhere nearby when they came out. Let's go to that cafe across the street."

Kisara nodded and they went over and found a table.

"So did you get in trouble for being out late the other night?"

"Huh? Oh, no not really. I don't think the masters really cared. I did run into Miu. Turns out she was waiting for me to get back."

"Really? Why? You're a grown ass man, you don't need her to wait up for you. Did she have to tuck you in?"

"Oh, yeah. And then she brought me a bottle of warm milk and sang me a lullaby."

They both laughed.

"I don't know… things have been a bit weird since she turned me down. I suppose that's to be expected, but it still feels weird. It's like… I still get the vibe that she might like me, even though she did turn me down."

Kisara shook her head.

"That's probably just because she's so used to the thought of you liking her. It's easy to get possessive of someone that feels that way, even if you don't feel the same."

"I guess so. She did seem awfully suspicious that we might have done something."

Kisara gave him an accusing look.

"I was passed out pretty hard when you got there. For all I know, you did something lewd to me before you woke me up."

"Oh great. Don't you start with that too."

She laughed and playfully kicked his leg under the table.

"I'm just messing with you. I know you're not that kind of guy."

She paused.

"Anyway, I am sorry about calling you out so late. I really need to disconnect my phone if I'm going to drink like that."

"Nah, that's cool. I got a good run in on the way there and back. Besides… It's not very often I get to see you drooling on the floor."

Kisara blushed and kicked him again, but not playfully this time.

"Still, I can't believe you admitted to liking Niijima. Is he really your type?"

Another kick. If he kept this up he'd need a wheelchair to get home.

"I didn't admit to liking anyone, dumbass."

"Though you did admit that you like SOMEONE."

"Well… yeah, I do… don't you?"

"Me? I mean… part of me still likes Miu. I did for so long, it's not likely to disappear too quickly."

Kisara looked around at the other tables.

"Well… if you keep ending up at my house in the middle of the night I might start thinking you like me…"

"Hey, you're the one that called me over. Besides, you'd probably kick my ass if I ever did something like that."

"Oh yeah… that's right…"

There was a long silence. Kenichi wasn't sure what to say at this point. He looked at the time, and then over at the theater.

"Shouldn't the movie be over by now? I wonder if they even realized it ended."

Kisara looked over too and shrugged.

"Who knows, they way they were going they'll probably be in there for a few more showings."

They laughed again.

A minute later he looked over and saw Miu and master Sakaki walking down the street. He waved to them and they headed over.

Master Sakaki was holding a ridiculous number of bags in one hand, and a beer in the other. He was the first to speak.

"Looks like you two are enjoying yourselves."

"Yeah, we're just waiting on the other two to come out of the theater. They were a bit... preoccupied."

Sakaki grasped the meaning of that and nodded.

"So what, is it some sort of double date?"

"Oh, it was supposed to be more people than this, but nobody else was able to make it. Then we left the movie early because we couldn't take sitting next to the two lovebirds in there. I guess this does seem a bit like a date though."

He looked over at Kisara, but she was just staring at the table. Her face had turned red.

Miu smiled at Kenichi.

"Well we won't keep you guys, we were just on our way back from shopping."

Master Sakaki held up the bags for proof.

"Ok, well I'll see you guys later. I'm not sure how long they'll be. We may just leave them if it takes too long."

The two walked away in the direction of home, leaving Kenichi and Kisara alone again. They sat for a bit in silence.

Since it seemed that Ukita and Freya weren't coming out any time soon, they got up to leave.

"I guess I should be the gentleman and walk you home."

"I'm fine on my own you nerd."

"Who says I'm going to protect YOU? Who knows what kind of trouble you could get into on the way home?"

She kicked at him again, but they were standing so Kenichi was able to dodge this one.

They talked and laughed the whole way to her apartment, and when they got there she turned and looked at him, slightly red.

"You know… this was fun… We should do this more often…"

Kenichi nodded. It had been fun.

"Yeah, definitely. Maybe next time those other two won't lock their faces together the whole time."

"Ha! Don't get your hopes up for that!"

"No... you're probably right. Maybe we should just hang out without them."

"Huh?! I uh... Yeah, we could do that..."

"Well... I guess I'll see you later then"

"Yeah, uh... See ya later."

Kisara went inside and Kenichi headed home. He remembered what Sakaki had said. A date? It did pretty much end up being one. He wondered if Kisara saw it that way too...

When he got back, he saw Akisame preparing some sort of hellish torture device. He noticed his arrival and called out to him.

"Kenichi! Just in time!"

He tried to run away, but his master was too fast for him. This was it, this would be the end. He should have stopped by his house to say goodbye to his family. A single tear came to his eye as Akisame led him towards the machine.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Kisara stepped inside her apartment and closed the door behind her. Leaning back against the door she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. What the hell? This had started as a normal day, and somewhere in the middle it had basically turned into a date with Kenichi. She couldn't believe it! He had practically admitted it himself, too! She walked into the other room and fell backwards onto her futon. She hadn't even bothered to put it away this morning. She laid there thinking about the day. She was happy. Really happy. She heard a knock at the door, and her heart skipped a beat as she got up and ran to answer it. Who was it?! Did he come back?!

He hadn't, it was Freya. She was standing there with a smug smile on her face.

"So? How did it go?"

Kisara looked at her dubiously.

"What, do you mean before or after you latched your face onto Ukita's even though you said you wouldn't this time?"

Freya laughed.

"I never said I wouldn't do that. I said it would be different this time, and it definitely was."

Kisara paused. So that was what she had meant. This whole thing was set up by her and Ukita.

"So, what? You tricked Kenichi into coming? I can't believe you would do- no, wait... I can believe it... And you know what? Thank you, I had a great time today."

She gave Freya a hug.

"So what happened? Did you guys... do anything?"

The way she asked that pissed her off.

"No, we didn't DO anything. We really just talked the whole time."

She went on and explained what happened in detail. At the end of it Freya looked disappointed.

"So that's all? Well that's boring. Though I guess now we know he doesn't hate spending time with you, so that's good."

"Well you don't have to make it sound like that. I enjoyed our time, and you know what? I think he did too. He even said we should hang out again sometime. Without you guys."

Freya raised her eyebrows.

"You left that part out! That's great!"

Kisara smiled. She thought it was pretty great, too.

"Well look, I left Ukita waiting, so I should probably head back."

"Oh, ok. Well, thanks again for today... Really, it was great."

Freya gave her a thumbs up as she hurried off and Kisara shut the door. She walked over and laid back down on her futon. She wondered what she should do next. Should she call him tomorrow? The next day? No... she would wait for him to call. She fell asleep smiling.

...

A couple of days passed and she hadn't gotten any calls from Kenichi. In fact, she hadn't even seen him. That's fine, it was just a couple of days, he'd probably call soon.

...

Another week passed. She hadn't seen or heard anything from Kenichi. What the hell... That asshole. Why hadn't he tried to contact her? He had said he wanted to hang out again sometime. She looked over at her fridge. She wanted a beer, BAD.

_Next time try not to be in a beer coma..._

Shit... his words came to mind every time she thought about having a drink... Asshole, he's scolding me and he's not even here...

This was bad, she was getting depressed. Had he really meant that he wanted to hang out again, or was he just saying that in the moment?

She had to fight back tears.

_Call me up anytime..._

She looked over at her phone. It was late. But he had said any time, and she wasn't drunk this time...

She moved towards the phone.

* * *

_Oooh!_

_Kisara sighed as Kenichi kissed his way down her neck. His hand found the bottom of her shirt and starting working its way up underneath. Finally his fingers found a breast, and he gave it a gentle squeeze._

_Ooh, Kenichi._

_He stopped kissing and started to lift off her shirt. He threw it aside and placed a hand on each bra-covered breast. Even covered he could tell that they were perfect._

_Kenichi!_

_He kissed her on the lips and reached his hands around behind her to undo her bra..._

"Kenichi! Stop having lewd dreams and wake up, damn it!"

Kenichi jolted awake and saw master Sakaki standing over him.

"Wha... What is it? What do you want?"

"Damn kid, what kind of dream were you having?"

Kenichi turned red and didn't say anything. Sakaki smiled.

"Well, anyway. Just got a phone call for you. It was that one chick again. Said she needed you, or something like that. Sounded a bit off."

Kenichi quickly stood up.

"Kisara? She called again? Did she say anything else?"

He looked outside and saw that it was pitch black. Middle of the night... again...

"No, that's pretty much it. It's late, but if you want to head over there I can cover for you."

He gave him a sly smile. Cover for me? He sighed. If he went out this late it would be best for someone to cover for him.

"Ok... yeah. I'd appreciate it. She's probably just drunk again, but I want to check anyway. I've got a weird feeling about it this time."

He wasn't sure, but that weird feeling could have just been the dream he just woke from... He shut the dream in the back of his mind as he sneaked out of Ryozanpaku. It was so late, he'd be surprised if anyone but Sakaki was awake.

Once outside the gates he headed towards Kisara's apartment at a full sprint. It wouldn't take him long to get there at this pace.

When he did get there, he went up to the door and knocked... No answer again. He tried the doorknob. Unlocked again. Turns out he cared more about locking her door than she did. It was dark inside the apartment. He waited for his eyes to adjust and started inside. He expected to see beer cans littered everywhere, but there weren't any. He quietly called out her name, but didn't get an answer. He walked over to the switch and turned on the light. Then he saw her. She was sitting in the corner with her legs curled up under an oversized shirt, arms clasped in front. Her head was down, making him think she was asleep. He slowly walked up and knelt down in front of her. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and she gave a tiny jump. Her head came up and she looked him in the eyes. Her eyes were red, she had been crying.

"Oh, shit. Kisara what's wrong? Did something happen?"

She didn't say anything. Another tear ran down her cheek.

"Was it something with Freya again?"

She shook her head.

"Well... what is it?"

He couldn't stand to see her like this. It made him feel terrible.

Finally she spoke, barely audible.

"I... missed you..."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I... missed you..."

Kenichi stared at her blankly.

"You... missed me? Wh-What do you mean?"

Kisara got angry. She shoved him away and wiped her face.

"I mean I missed you, dumbass! You said you wanted to hang out a while back, and I was all amped up for that! Then I waited and waited for you to call, but you never did! I never saw you around, I even went over to your dojo but didn't see you there! Have you been fucking avoiding me?!"

He had never seen her so mad. He still couldn't wrap his head around the part where she said she missed him, but it was true that he had said he wanted to hang out.

"Wait... Kisara, it wasn't like that!"

She glared at him.

"Yeah? Well then what the hell was it like?!"

He sat back up and proceeded to recount everything that had happened since they had parted the day of the movie.

* * *

Hours after returning from hanging out with Kisara, Kenichi fell into his bed. He had been on Akisame's torture machine for far too long. Surely it hadn't been more than a couple of hours, but you could never tell with these crazy masters. He wouldn't put it past them to leave him on that thing and forget to check on him. He looked at the time. It was late. God... they had left him for hours. If he recovered from this any time soon it would be a miracle. He soon fell asleep.

The next morning he woke up to the worst soreness he'd experienced since he first started at the dojo. They had really done a number on him this time, but it could have been worse. He spent a good deal of the morning stretching and trying to regain a modicum of usefulness in his limbs. When he finally lumbered out of his room he was met by Miu.

"Hey, how are you? I'm surprised to see you up. I really had to lay into Akisame for leaving you on that thing for so long. I think he may actually feel bad about it."

Kenichi smiled. It was just liked her to scold them.

"I'm doing alright, it could be worse I guess. They don't have anything planned for me today do they?"

She shook her head.

"No, I told them to lay off for a day or two, it wouldn't do to have you get hurt from training too much."

He could have hugged her, that was the best news he could have hoped for.

He walked out and was greeted by Sakaki.

"Hey there, bud. Heard you got worked over pretty good by Akisame yesterday."

Kenichi smiled and stretched out his arms.

"Yeah, pretty bad. Hurts everywhere on my body when I move."

"Well, I have a proposal for you. I'm headed out of town on a... vacation of sorts. You want to come? Be a good chance to take it easy for a bit."

Kenichi's eyes narrowed as he looked up at his master. This sounded like another one of his dangerous jobs. Vacation my ass...

"Hmm... I wouldn't say no to getting far away from Akisame and his machines, but I know how your 'vacations' tend to go. Usually lots of fist fights and explosions."

Sakaki put his head back and laughed.

"Hahaha! I guess you know me pretty well, kid! Yeah, it's a job, but I promise it's nothing like the ones we've been on before. Should be a total milk run. Besides, you still need more experience in the real world."

Kenichi sighed... Yeah, he probably should go. He weighed the options in his head and the mysterious job came out a clear winner over whatever Akisame was building next.

"Yeah... ok, I'll go. How long do you think we'll be gone?"

"Oh... a week or so."

Kenichi nodded.

"I'll have to get some stuff ready, when do we leave?"

"As soon as you're ready, so hurry it up!"

Kenichi went and gathered some things for the 'vacation' then went to meet Sakaki in the yard. On his way he passed by the phone and thought of Kisara. He had told her he would like to hang out, but if he was going to be gone for this long maybe he should call her and let her know...

"Kenichi! Hurry it up! We don't got all day!"

Hearing his master's voice, he hurried off. She'd probably just make fun of him for calling about that anyway.

Several days later, he found himself surrounded by an almost comical amount of large, angry men. Master Sakaki was in the other room fighting several martial arts masters. He figured something like this would happen, but this was ridiculous. Sakaki had said it wouldn't be anything like the jobs they'd been on before, but this really took the cake.

One of the men rushed him and he sprang into action. No need to hold back with these guys, should be simple as long as he didn't let himself get overwhelmed.

As the man came at him with a right hook he jumped into the air and knocked his fist away with a well placed kick. The force of the man's punch was redirected into another nearby thug and they were both knocked down. Kenichi landed on the foot he had kicked with and spun low with the other, knocking two more to the floor. Rising, he blocked another thug's ax kick with both hands and threw him across the room. More began to swarm him and the ones he'd simply knocked to the ground staggered back to their feet. This time it was his turn to attack. He threw himself towards the closest assailant and caught him in the side of the head with a well placed punch. Before that one fell unconscious to the floor he was on to the next, driving a knee into his solar-plexus. The man gasped for air and Kenichi brought a knife hand down on a pressure point Akisame had taught him. The man instantly passed out. One man came behind him and tried to put him in a headlock, but he simply grabbed his arm and threw him over his head straight into another thug. They fell back into a table and crashed through it. More charged him and he continued to take them out one by one, sometimes two by two.

When all was said and done Kenichi had fared pretty well. A few bruises and scrapes, but nothing compared to the men he had just dealt with. He look towards the door to the room where Sakaki had been fighting and saw him leaning against the door frame.

"Nice job, kid. Couldn't have done it better myself!"

He paused.

"No... that's not true. I would have done it much quicker. Still a decent job though."

Kenichi walked up and looked past him into the other room. He saw that the men Sakaki had been fighting were haphazardly piled in a corner.

"Looks like you cleaned up pretty well, too."

"Them? Ha! They were pushovers. I finished them off and got to watch most of your fight!"

Kenichi frowned. This was what he had to deal with. At any point something could have gone wrong and he could have been injured or worse, but his master still deemed it necessary to sit back and watch.

After they cleaned themselves up they headed back to where they were staying.

"So, is that it? Is the job finished? I can't imagine there would be much more to this."

Sakaki scratched at the stubble on his face and glanced sideways at Kenichi.

"Ok, so this wasn't it. What else could we possibly have to do?"

Sakaki simply smiled and kept walking. Over the next few days Kenichi learned what they had to do. The fight before had been like a warm up. Day after day he was put in life threatening situations, and every time it could have been over much quicker had Sakaki helped him in his fights. Sometimes this 'never interfere with a disciple's fight' thing was a pain in the ass.

Finally, it was time to head back. Kenichi collapsed in his seat on the plane next to his master. The plane took off and he relaxed, deciding he would sleep the whole way home.

"Kenichi, I need you to stay alert. We aren't done with the job yet."

He opened his eyes and looked up at Sakaki, he was dead serious.

"Shit... really? On a plane? I thought you said this 'vacation' was a milk run."

Sakaki looked down at him and grimaced.

"Sorry, kid. I thought it was over too, but look."

He nodded toward the front of the cabin. Kenichi looked up and saw that the cabin was empty except for one man at the front, who was staring at them with a look that could kill. He was smaller in stature, but he could tell just by the way he held himself that he was at least as tough as some of the guys Sakaki had fought.

"Look Kenichi, this is a shitty situation. This is a small plane and.. well... I'm a big guy. Even if I could move around freely, using any amount of my full strength could knock the plane out of the sky. This one is going to have to be yours. He looks tough... damn tough... but I know you can handle it. Just be careful. I'll be here to back you up, but only if things look like they're really headed south..."

Kenichi nodded and gulped audibly. He knew that by 'things' his master meant 'the plane', and by 'south' he meant 'down'.

The man started down the isle toward them.

"Ok kid, don't give him an inch and end it as quickly as possible."

Kenichi stood up and walked forward, blocking the man's path. They both stopped in the middle of the cabin and stared at each other. The man assumed a fighting position and Kenichi followed suit. There wasn't much room above or to either side. This would be an interesting fight.

Kenichi acted first, throwing a fist at the man's face. The man knocked it aside with ease and brought his own hand hurtling down at Kenichi's neck. He turned sideways to dodge and raised his knee quickly to hit the man's wrist. Instead, the hand pushed his knee back down to the ground and the man brought the hand up towards his stomach, making a fist. Kenichi was pinned against the side of a seat and couldn't move in time to block. He tightened his muscles to accept the blow while at the same time bringing his fist into contact with the side of the man's face. They hit each other at the same time and the man staggered away from him. He was surprised. They continued to block and trade blows for some time. They seemed to be evenly matched until Kenichi realized he was slowly being pushed back.

_Don't give him an inch._

He needed to do something to mix things up, get the other guy off balance. He wouldn't be able to beat him with brute force, so he came up with a new plan. As the man lunged forward with a kick he jumped and put his hands on a seat to the side. Swinging his legs around behind the man, using his momentum he was able to kick him hard in the back of the head. The man stumbled forward and almost fell. Kenichi used this opportunity to jump at him. He grabbed him from behind and wrenched him back over his head and slammed him down on the other side. The plane shuddered.

"Kenichi, careful!" Sakaki called out.

He barely heard his master as he fell on top of the man, who was trying to rise. Kenichi threw out three jabs in quick succession, each hitting a vital pressure point. Two on the man's right arm and one on his left shoulder. The man no longer had the use of his arms.

"Submit!" Kenichi said to him.

The man shook his arms, saw they were no use, and spat at him. He came at him with a sideways kick, but having lost the use of his arms he couldn't balance himself as well. The kick was sloppy, and Kenichi was able to duck down and strike another pressure point high on the inside of his leg. The leg went limp and the man started falling to the ground.

"SHIT!"

The man called out as he fell, unable to use his arms or leg to stop his rapid descent. His head hit the side of a seat with a loud thud, and he was knocked out. He would be out for hours, plenty of time to reach their destination.

"Nice job, Kenichi! And I mean it this time! This is actually a situation where I may not have been able to do a better job..."

Kenichi put on a smug smile.

"... that is unless I had a smaller body. I would probably have knocked him out in one hit. He left quite a few openings that you didn't notice."

Sinking back into his seat, he took a deep breath. Finally he could get some rest.

The plane shuddered again.

"Sorry folks, some turbulence has taken out one of our engines and we're going to have to make an emergency landing."

Kenichi put his face in his hands at the announcement. This was the shittiest 'vacation' he'd ever been on.

Finally, eight days after he had left, he came staggering back in to Ryozanpaku. He was wiped out, and went straight to his room and fell into bed.

* * *

Kenichi finished telling the story.

"The next thing I knew I was woken up by master Sakaki. I was afraid he was going to tell me he had another job for us to do, but instead he told me about your call."

He left out the part where he had been dreaming about her just before waking up.

Kisara was staring at him, mouth slightly open. Any sign of her anger had left part way through the story.

"Holy fucking shit. That all really happened?"

Kenichi smiled.

"Yeah. Just another week in the life of a disciple at Ryozanpaku."

They both laughed.

"Well damn... sounds like you really kicked some ass..."

She looked at him approvingly. He chuckled, and then returned the conversation to something that he was wondering about.

"So... when you said you missed me... what exactly did you mean by that?"

Kisara looked down and turned red.

"I uh... well..."

He hadn't seen this side of her before. Well... not when she was sober at least.

"Kisara.. do you-"

She interrupted him and stood up.

"You know what? It's getting kinda late, you should probably get back home and rest. I'm not even sure how you're still able to stand after a week like that!"

"But... yeah... ok..."

He didn't want to press the subject if she didn't want to answer, and she was clearly avoiding it. He walked to the front door, and she followed him. When he had stepped out he turned around.

"Kisara, I'm sorry I didn't call you before I left. I told you I wanted to hang out sometime and I meant that."

"Look, don't worry about it. I was only thinking about myself. I didn't even stop to think that you might have something going on."

Kenichi paused and took a deep breath.

"Do you uh... do you want to uh..."

He couldn't believe he was about to ask this.

"Do you want to go on a date? With me? Tomorrow, maybe?"

Her eyes widened and she turned deep red. It looked like more tears were about to come out, but she shook her head and cleared her throat.

"A date? Tomorrow? Umm... sure... Yeah, I guess I could stomach a date with you."

She said it trying to act tough, but she was clearly pretty happy.

"Ok, great! I um... Let's just meet at the park at noon, if that's ok."

"Ok, I guess I'll see you then."

Kenichi started walking away, but he heard her voice.

"Kenichi... have a good night..."

The smile she gave him when she said that made his heart leap in his chest.

"Yeah.. you too."

He returned the smile.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Kisara was laying down, trying to fall asleep. She was still smiling. She couldn't believe that he had asked her out on a date! Tomorrow! Every time she thought about it her heart fluttered and she could feel her face getting hot. She wasn't able to sleep like this, and it was getting very late. Trying to get her mind on other things didn't help, all she could think about was Kenichi. She tossed and turned, trying to find the best sleeping position, but nothing helped. When she finally did fall asleep, she hadn't realized that the sun had just peeked over the edge of the horizon.

She woke up with a start. Date! That was her first thought. Then she looked at the time.

"Damn, 3:30? I barely slept at all..."

She laid back for a moment, and then the realization hit her.

"OH FUCK"

Not 3:30 in the morning... It was afternoon already!

"SHIT! BITCH! FUCK! ASS!..."

She sprang up and rushed to the shower spewing a string of hateful words the whole time. This couldn't be happening! She had been so excited and now she had overslept!

"No, no, no, no, no..."

She had showered and dressed in record time and flew out her front door. She headed straight for the park, darting through alleys and jumping fences, taking the fastest route possible. He might still be there! Maybe he sat down while waiting for her and had fallen asleep or something! That would be fine! Then it would be like he hadn't had to wait much time at all!

The park was empty... Not only was Kenichi not there, nobody else was either. It was so empty it was as if the park itself was mocking her for oversleeping.

"Damn it..."

She fell to her knees and tears came out, unbidden. She had ruined it. Kenichi had asked her on a date and she blew it. Of course he wouldn't wait for this long...

The only thing she could think to do was to head over to his dojo. She could still go apologize; it wasn't like she had done it on purpose.

* * *

Kenichi had gotten home later than the last time. Nobody was awake, so he didn't even bother to be sneaky. He just walked to his room, went inside, and fell into his bed. He was asleep almost instantly.

He woke up the next day pretty late. He was groggy and sore; that 'vacation' had really taken it's toll on him. He went to soak in the outdoor bath, thinking it would help him wake up and loosen up his tight muscles. Instead of waking him up he just fell asleep again, only to be woken up by master Kensei.

"Hey, don't you think you should be going somewhere?"

Kenichi jumped at the sudden voice.

"Wh-what?! Going somewhere? What do you mean?"

It took him a while to remember, but when he did an icy chill ran down his spine and he looked up at his master in horror. He didn't know how he had found out about the date, but he was glad he did.

"Oh... SHIT! What time is it?!"

His master turned and started walking away.

"Oh... about... 3:30"

"GODDAMMIT!"

Kenichi flew out of the bath and back to his room to get dressed.

* * *

Kisara was just walking up to the gates of Ryozanpaku. She had stopped crying about halfway there, but she knew her eyes would still be red. That didn't matter though, she wasn't here to look nice. She was just going to apologize and head home. Kenichi wouldn't want her to hang around since she had stood him up.

She stepped through the gates and almost collided with Kenichi. They stopped and stared at each other for a second before Kenichi launched into a stream of apologies.

Wait... What? What was he apologizing for? It was her fault for not showing up... unless...

"You... you overslept?"

She stumbled over her words. She wasn't sure if she should be angry or happy. What the hell kind of situation was this? They had both overslept for their own date?

"Kisara, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to miss our date! I was so tired and sore when I woke up that I went to the bath and ended up falling asleep there."

She couldn't believe it, he had missed it too! She had gotten worked up over nothing! The absurdity of the situation was too much. She burst out laughing.

* * *

Kenichi stood there perplexed as she was laughing. What was so funny? Was she laughing AT him?

"Wh-what's so funny?"

All he could hear from her was the word 'overslept' between her laughs. He was getting annoyed. He hadn't meant to oversleep! But then he looked at her again...

Her hair was a mess, still slightly wet as if just out of the shower. Her shirt was on backwards, and she had two different shoes on. All of a sudden, he realized what had happened. He started laughing too. They just stood there and laughed until onlookers might have thought that they had lost their minds.

When they both finally calmed down they just looked at each other. Kenichi decided to try to make the best of it.

"Well, I guess we both suck at waking up on time, but that doesn't mean we can't go on that date. There's still plenty of day left."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

She smiled at him, and he smiled back. They were just standing there smiling like a couple of idiots.

"Kiss her!"

Kenichi heard the voice from behind him. He spun on the spot and saw all the masters hiding poorly, Sakaki giving him the thumbs up. He turned red and looked back at Kisara, who had also turned a similar shade. She quickly grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him out of the gates. They headed off together towards the park where they had meant to meet, her hand sliding down from his wrist to hold his hand.

* * *

They spent the day just walking around the town, enjoying each other's company. They stopped at a cafe and had a meal. The whole time they talked about whatever came to mind and laughed. Kenichi griped about the insane torture machines that Akisame seemed to think would help with training. Kisara told him about some stray cats she had come across, and how she had to kick the asses of some punks who came up and tried to pick on them. After a silence she told him about how it was Freya's idea to invite him to the movie the previous week.

"Really? I was wondering about that, it seemed strange that no one else had showed up."

He coughed and looked her in the eyes, smiling.

"I guess I'll have to thank her for that."

Kisara blushed.

They continued to talk until the sun was going down. Kisara couldn't believe the time had passed so quickly, and she wanted to kick herself for not waking up earlier. Everything had worked out, but if they had met when they planned to they could have been together longer. They started heading back to her apartment, Kenichi insisted on walking her home even though she said she would be fine. When they got there they stopped outside her door.

"Kenichi... thanks for today... it was a lot of fun..."

"Yeah it was. Even if it did start off a bit rough."

They laughed again, remembering how absurd it had been.

"Kisara... I'd like to do this again sometime... Sometime soon I hope."

She smiled, those words made her happy.

"I'd really like that."

They stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. Kisara broke the silence.

"Well... I guess I'll see you later. Thanks again for the great day."

She turned and started to walk inside.

"Yeah, I'll see you later."

Kenichi smiled and walked away.

Kisara shut the door behind her and walked into the main room. What a great day this had turned out to be, but it had ended too quickly. She sighed and sat in her chair, going over each detail of the day in her mind.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She jumped up, but then realized it was probably just Freya as usual. She walked over to the door and opened it.

Kenichi stepped through the doorway, put a hand behind her head, and kissed her on the lips.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's note: Birthday Update!  
This one's shorter than my usual chapters. It took me a while to write because I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to continue from the last one. It could have gone several ways, but I figured this would be best. I should be writing more soon (it's addictive), but I've got a lot going on the next few days. Thanks for reading!

* * *

Chapter 9

Kenichi smiled and walked away. The day turned out better than he had hoped it would. He had enjoyed every minute of it, but now it was over. It had gone by way too fast. He stopped halfway down the sidewalk and looked back.

"Ah... fuck it."

He turned and started back towards her door. This was impulsive... how would she react? He decided it didn't matter. He had made up his mind.

Standing in front of her door again, he hesitated for a moment, then knocked. He heard a rustling inside, and his heart started to beat faster. Suddenly there she was, door open, and he felt himself move forward. He put his hand behind her head and pulled her in for a kiss. It was his first kiss, maybe hers as well. He let her go and they stared at each other. Her face turned very red. She suddenly pushed him and shut the door quickly, not saying a word. Before he had the time to wonder if he'd made the wrong move the door opened again. She walked out and grabbed his collar and pulled his face close. She held him there for a brief moment, and then she kissed him. He put one hand back behind her head and the other went to the small of her back. She kept a hold of his collar and put her other hand on his chest. This kiss lasted much longer than the other, and when they finally let each other go they were both breathing heavily. Kisara was still the same deep shade of red, and he could feel that his face was likely the same. Without saying a word she walked back, turned to give him a smile, and shut the door.

He just stood there staring at her door. That had gone better than he'd expected. He thought that she might fight him, but instead...

"Wow." was the only thing he could say. He took a deep breath and started back down the sidewalk. He had been happy when he was leaving the first time, but now he felt like his steps were weightless. Before he realized it he had made it back to the dojo. He walked through the front gates and back to his room; it was late so he went straight to bed. The next day he went outside and sat on the front step and just stared across the yard. The events of the previous day were racing through his mind, always coming back to the kiss.

"Well would you look at this. Seems like something good may have happened."

He turned and saw Sakaki and Akisame looking at him.

"Look at his face, something good definitely happened."

"He seems to be in a bit of a daze. That won't do. I think I have the perfect remedy for that."

Sakaki looked at Akisame.

"Come on, look at him. He's so happy and you want to ruin it with that horrible thing you made back there? **I** wouldn't even want to be on that thing."

The corners of Akisame's mouth turned up in a slight smile as he stepped down and grabbed Kenichi by the shoulder. Kenichi looked up at him helplessly and then back at Sakaki, almost pleading.

"Sorry, kid! There's nothing I can do about this. Good luck!"

Akisame led him around the back and he saw it. What the fuck? This was a joke right? The machine he saw was fairly simple, but possibly the most terrifying he'd seen. It consisted of a treadmill attached by gears to a vertical post. At the top of the post was a large wheel with strings of various lengths hanging down. On the ends of the strings... were those tasers? Shit. No. This was just cruelty. He couldn't be serious about this.

"The point of this machine is to improve your reflexes and ability to dodge. Also, if you stop running before I say you can, I'll move you to that machine over there."

Kenichi looked where his master was pointing and saw an identical machine, but instead of tasers there were swords.

"That was the first model. It was Shigure's idea. You'll thank me that I decided to make a second, less deadly model."

Kenichi WAS thankful, but it seemed more like Stockholm Syndrome.

"Don't worry, I think only some of the tasers are set at full power."


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note:  
Ten chapters! Holy cow! When I started this I never expected to write so much. I'm really thankful for all the feedback I've gotten so far. Now I just hope that I can keep writing things you enjoy. :)

* * *

Chapter 10

Freya looked at her, smiling. She came over shortly after Kenichi had left. Apparently she had seen what happened.

"I've gotta say, girl. I didn't expect this to move so quickly! Guess he's got more backbone than I gave him credit for."

Kisara hadn't stopped smiling yet, even though she wasn't aware of it.

"I mean... right? He just... then I... right?!"

Freya laughed and gave her a wicked smile.

"You need to get a hold of yourself! If you let something like this get you so excited you might explode if something more happens!"

Something... more...? Kisara blushed, realizing what she had meant.

"It was just one date! And one... well two... kisses! I'm not even thinking about... THAT yet."

That was a lie. She had thought of it. Often.

Freya nodded, not believing a word.

"Still, I can't believe you overslept for your first date. You were lucky that he did too, but that's not likely to happen again."

She looked at the floor. That was true, but how was she supposed to sleep when she always got so excited about it?

"I guess I should be going, I just wanted to check in after your date. I'm glad it went so well."

Kisara walked her to the door and gave her a hug. Freya patted her on the head and left.

Hours later Kisara finally fell asleep. It would have been easier if she had just had a drink or two, but it felt... wrong to do that now. The next day she woke up late again. She got up and showered, got ready for the day, and left. She wasn't going anywhere in particular; she just didn't think she could spend the day cooped up in her apartment. The day passed uneventfully, and she finally returned home. Almost as soon as she walked in the door the phone started to ring. She rushed to answer it.

"Hello? ... Kenichi? Hey what's up? ... A-another date? T-Tomorrow? ... Yeah! That would be awesome! Let's set the time a bit later, you know, just in case ... OK, great! I'll see you then!"

She fumbled the receiver back on to the cradle and jumped up excitedly. Another date! Already! Also, shit! She wouldn't be able to sleep tonight! She wrote the time down for the date so she wouldn't forget. Then she walked back to turn on the light since she had run straight to the phone. She noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Had she not even managed to close it all the way? She walked over to shut it, but instead fell to the ground. Something had struck her hard from behind. The last thing she remembered was a dark figure standing over her, and a foot coming down at her face.

"Take this you little bitch. We'll teach you to fuck with our gang."

* * *

Kenichi had somehow survived the latest machine, and then he had a long and serious talk with Akisame. He took some sort of pleasure building those things, but it was starting to go too far. When he felt that he had gotten the message across he went to eat something. All that running had made him work up a rather large appetite. His thoughts returned to Kisara. The kiss.

"Hey Kenichi, how did your date go?"

It was Miu. She had brought him a snack. He took it gladly and started eating.

"Uh... It went well."

She smiled and elbowed him in the ribs, almost causing him to spit out his food.

"That's it? It just 'went well'?"

"I mean... ok... It went amazingly well. I had an awesome time and... I'm pretty sure she did too."

He turned red.

"So... are you going to ask her out again?"

He coughed. Another date? What the hell, why hadn't that even crossed his mind?! Of course!

"Well, yeah. Definitely. In fact... I'm going to call her here in a bit and set it up."

Miu smiled again and started to walk away.

"You can repay me later for reminding you."

A bit later he went to the phone and called Kisara.

"Hey Kisara, it's Kenichi! ... I was wondering... would you like to go on another date? Tomorrow? ... Haha yeah, we should set the time a bit later! ... Alright, let's meet in the park again, see you then!"

He hung up the phone. Awesome, a second date. He went to bed that night even more excited than the first time, but somehow he still went straight to sleep.

_Kisara, no... How did this happen..._

_He was on his knees, holding her in his arms. She had been beaten badly. He had shown up and tried to protect her, but he wasn't able to. His movements were extremely slow, and when he tried to call out his voice was as quiet as a whisper. Finally the mysterious assailants had left them alone, but they had already done the damage. Kisara looked up at him with accusing eyes._

_"You... you didn't protect me... why didn't... you... protect..."_

_He watched helplessly as the life left her body._

_"Kisara, no! Wake up! You're stronger than this! NOO!"_

"NOOOO!"

He woke and sat straight up. It was only a dream. He reached up and felt tears in his eyes. Shit, that dream... it had been so real... He made his mind up then and there that he would never let something like that happen.

Suddenly a figure came crashing through his window. At the same time his door flew off it's hinges as another figure burst through. His light turned on and he saw Shigure, covered in glass and sword drawn, looking around the room. Sakaki was standing over the door, looking as though he was ready to pulverize something.

"Wha- What's going on? What are you guys doing?!"

They looked at him.

"We heard... you scream..."

He must have yelled out as he came out of the nightmare.

"Oh... I'm sorry guys. I had a weird dream, I think I yelled when I woke up."

Sakaki sighed and looked at the door.

"She's gonna make me fix this..."

Shigure looked back at the shattered window and said nothing.

The scolding they got from Miu was the worst they had ever gotten. They didn't have much money there and couldn't afford to keep fixing things like this. They spent the morning cleaning up the mess. Afterwards, Kenichi went to the bath. He made sure not to fall asleep this time. There was no way he would miss, or even be late for, this date. His thoughts kept returning to the dream. He knew it wasn't real, but it still gave him a bad feeling.

The time came, and he left for the park. He had a spring in his step and it was all he could do to keep from running there. When he did get there he was almost an hour early. He sat down on a bench to wait for her.

...

An hour passed and he still saw no sign of her. A bad feeling came and went when the dream flashed through his mind. No! She'll be here. That was just a dream.

...

Another hour... he was pacing back and forth. He wanted to go to her apartment to check on her, but he was afraid that she would show up as soon as he left.

"HEY! Kenichi!"

He sighed, relieved. He turned to greet her, but instead he saw Freya running up to him, a worried look on her face. The bad feeling returned with a vengeance.

"Freya? What is it? What happened?"

She stopped in front of him.

"It's Kisara, I tried to call her this morning, but she didn't answer. Then... I went over to her apartment and the door was open. The light was on inside... I had a look around and saw a note by the phone. That's how I found you here."

His stomach was knotting up. The bad feeling wouldn't go away.

"Then I saw... blood... A little bit by the front door..."

FUCK

"WHAT?!"

His fists clenched and he started sweating.

"Kenichi, I don't know where she is and I'm really worried. I'm afraid something bad has happened. There was BLOOD Kenichi!"

Without saying a word he headed towards her apartment at a full out sprint. When he got there he saw the blood, but there weren't any signs of a struggle. When he was walking out the front, he saw a neighbor.

"Hey! You! Have you seen any suspicious activity going on here recently?"

The man looked at him and shrugged.

"Nothing more than usual."

Kenichi shook his head and swore. This wouldn't do. She was missing, there was blood on her floor, and he had no idea where to start looking.

"You know, now that I think about it. I did see some burly dude here yesterday. I figured it was another one of her friends since he walked straight in the front door. Then... then he came out carrying what I thought was a sack on his shoulder..."

The man turned white.

"Wait... was that...?"

Kenichi didn't wait for him to finish. He started running to the one person that he knew would be able to find her.

He burst through the door at the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters and found Niijima.

"Hey buddy, what's up? You look like you're in a hurry!"

Kenichi explained the situation and Niijima got serious. He took him to his office and started typing on his computer.

"You say it happened last night? Well I can have a look at what happened, courtesy of the city."

On the screen he saw traffic camera feeds, security camera feeds. Even some personal home security cameras. He kept typing and finally Kisara's apartment showed up on the screen. The camera was across the street, but it was enough to tell what was going on. He saw Kisara open her door, pause, and then run inside, leaving the door slightly ajar. Then he saw a large man walk up and enter through the door. Moments later he saw the man leaving, carrying a body on his shoulder.

"GOD DAMN IT"

Kenichi was furious. She had run inside because of his phone call. This was his fault. If he hadn't called she wouldn't have left her door open.

Niijima continued typing and was able to track the movement of the man all the way back to an abandoned looking warehouse. He met another dozen or so men there and they all went inside. All but two, who stayed at the front gate.

"Fucking shit, where is that? I have to get over there!"

Niijima gave him the address on a piece of paper and he flew out of the door. Damn it! He was thinking about the dream the whole way there. This couldn't be happening! Not like this! He stopped at an intersection to get his bearings, looked at the address again, and continued running. Finally he got closer and saw the men at the front gate. Without even slowing his pace he jumped and kicked one of the men right in the side of the head, causing him to fly several feet and land hard on the ground. Before the other man had a chance to react he was in front of him. He punched him straight in the gut, pulled his hand back and then chopped him in the throat. The man doubled over wheezing, and Kenichi brought his knee up to meet his face. The man fell unconscious to the ground. Kenichi wasted no time and jumped the gate. He sprinted up to the door. He could hear a commotion inside, and a male voice called out.

"KILL THAT BITCH!"

Kenichi turned white. He was too late.

No... fuck! NO!

"KISARA!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Kisara woke up. Her head hurt like hell. She opened her eyes and saw unfamiliar sights. Where the hell was she? The last thing she remembered was... second date... and then... someone had attacked her. In her own apartment! She silently made a vow to always close and lock her door from now on. That would probably make Kenichi happy too. She looked around, there were men standing around her.

"Look, the bitch is finally waking up."

Some of them looked strangely familiar. Where had she seen them before? Before she could figure it out, the one she assumed was the leader stepped forward and started talking.

"So... you're awake now. Bet you're wondering where you are."

"Eh... not really. Can't say I care too much."

The man frowned.

"Well... you should care. Because this isn't a good place for you. You see... it came to my attention that you beat up a few of my men..."

That's where she had seen them. They were the ones whose asses she'd kicked for trying to mess with those stray cats.

"... And as much as it shames me that they were beat up by a woman..."

Her anger flared. That same stupid prejudice again. She moved her hands and found that they were tied behind her back. She started to work her hands out of the ropes.

"... I have to say. I didn't expect you to be so... attractive. The way they said it, you were some sort of demon woman. Anyway..."

The ropes came loose from her hands easily, amateurs. Her legs were taped to the steel chair. She smiled.

"I can't have someone go unpunished if they've harmed my men. That's why you're here now. You understand what kind of situation you're in?"

She looked up at him, still smiling, and shrugged.

"Well... I'll be damned if you aren't a feisty one."

He stood straight and laughed.

"You know, my men wanted to do some... things... to you while you were asleep. I told them not to."

He leaned closer.

"I wanted you to be awake first."

He made an evil smile. She continued to look at him unconcerned.

"But before that..." He whipped out a knife, "I'm going to CUT you."

"Fat chance, asshole!"

She put her hands on the back of the chair and pulled her legs away, straining the tape. It tore easily and she flipped backwards and landed on her feet.

"SHIT! Who tied her up?!"

He kicked the chair out of the way and came at her. She moved forward and kicked the knife out of his hand. In the same movement she hopped to her other leg and sent him sprawling with a roundhouse to the face.

"FUCK, GET HER!"

The other men came at her all at once. The first one grabbed the chair and swung it down at her. She went over backwards into a handstand and launched herself feet first at his face, chair narrowly falling over her head. The momentum of her kick sent him backwards and she landed with a knee on his chest. She jumped sideways and grabbed another man around the neck and brought her knee to his mouth. He spit out blood and teeth and staggered backwards. More men came from behind but she spun low and kicked their legs out from under them. She jumped on top of one of them, knocking all the air out of his lungs, and rapidly punched the other in the face. The leader was back up on his feet. He came at her with a pipe in his hand, but she cartwheeled away, grabbing his weapon arm with her feet and yanking him down to the ground. She twisted and heard a snap. The man yelled out in pain. It was at this point that she looked outside and saw daylight.

"You FUCKING ASSHOLES. IF YOU MADE ME MISS MY DATE..."

Without finishing her sentence she darted towards the others. They backed off a bit, but their leader, somehow still conscious, called out.

"KILL THAT BITCH!"

The last three rushed her at once. She jumped high and landed on the shoulders of the closest one. She jumped off, kicking him to the floor, and flipped over bringing her feet crashing down on the next one. The last thug looked at her. He was one of the ones she had beat up the other day.

"You bitch... how dare you humiliate me!"

She spat.

"Fuck you! You can take your shit prejudices and choke on them!"

Before he realized what was happening she darted forward and landed a kick straight on his throat. He gasped and fell backwards. His head hit the concrete hard and he was out cold.

"KISARA!"

She spun around and saw a door opening. Kenichi burst through and stopped when he saw. Kisara was standing in the middle of the room surrounded by men writhing on the floor.

She smiled when she saw him.

"My knight in shining armor."

He looked at her incredulously and then ran to her. Before she could react he embraced her.

"I-I thought... you didn't show up... your apartment... there was blood..."

She smiled and put her arms around him. She may not like the whole damsel in distress thing, but it still made her happy to see him. He had come to save her, and that was just fine. Even if she hadn't really needed saving.

She pulled away from him.

"Wait... so it's already past time for our date?! FUCK..."

Kenichi had to restrain her from attacking the already severely wounded men. She swore loudly at them and was trying to kick at the nearest one. Kenichi had to drag her outside. Finally she calmed down and looked at him, out of breath.

"Kisara... I'm sorry. This happened because I called you. If i hadn't, you wouldn't have..."

She quieted him with a kiss. He was startled at first, but then reciprocated. When they pulled away from each other she punched his arm.

"Idiot... this wasn't your fault, so don't you dare blame yourself. Anyway, it's over now so it doesn't matter. I can't really go on a date in these torn up clothes, and it's getting late anyway. Looks like we'll have to postpone it."

She grabbed his hand and they started to walk away from the warehouse. They came across the two guards at the gate, still out cold. She giggled.

"Looks like these two are having a bad day."

He smiled at her sheepishly and they continued to walk back to her apartment. They stopped outside her door.

"By the way, you should probably check in with your neighbor. I ran into him when I was here and he looked pretty shaken up that you were kidnapped."

She looked over at the door and nodded.

"Also, call Freya. She was the first one to see your apartment and told me you were missing. She's pretty worried."

She nodded again and started to go inside.

Before she walked inside Kenichi grabbed her arm and kissed her again. It was much quicker than the last one, but it still made her blush. She then stepped inside and started to close the door.

"Kisara..."

She stopped, looking at him expectantly.

"... please start locking your door from now on."

Having said this, he smiled and headed home. She watched him walk away then shut the door, locked it, and went straight to her bed.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Kenichi stood ready for her attack. He didn't normally like to fight girls, but this was different. If he didn't fight, she would kick his ass and he would regret it for days. She flew at him and aimed a kick at his head. He dodged it and threw a punch at her side. His fist found its mark, but she was already moving away when it landed so its impact was severely lessened. Without hesitating she tried for another kick at his head, he smiled and started to dodge again, but it was a feint! She landed mid-kick and drove her other knee into his stomach.

"OOF!"

Before he could recover she jumped and planted an elbow on his back, dropping him to the ground. The gravel beneath him ground against the side of his face and he grunted. Moving quickly, he spun his legs around to trip her, but she jumped up to dodge them. As soon as she jumped he planted his feet and rose with his palm towards her. The force of her descent from the jump collided with his rising palm and she fell backwards with an audible thump. She laid there gasping for breath as he stood over her, a worried look on his face.

"Oh, shit. Are you ok? I didn't mean to-"

She angrily kicked his legs out from under him and he fell beside her.

Kisara looked over at him and frowned.

"Shit, Kenichi. I told you not to go easy on me. Isn't the point of sparring to push ourselves beyond our limits so we can improve?"

He looked over at her.

"Honestly, the only way I'm going easy is by not using moves designed to do permanent damage. You can't expect me to actually try to hurt you."

He had learned quite a few moves from his masters that wouldn't be good to use on someone you considered a friend, and DEFINITELY not on your girlfriend. She had come to him a few days after the kidnapping incident and asked him if he would spar with her. He didn't see the harm in it and said yes, so she started coming to Ryozanpaku every other day. Sparring with her was a lot different than it had been sparring with Miu. She wouldn't give him an inch. She wasn't afraid to hurt him, and she had demonstrated this the first few times they sparred when he had decided to go easy a bit.

Kisara stood up and brushed herself off, then offered a hand to Kenichi.

"That should probably do it for today. As fun as it is, I don't think I could stand to see your face plow into that gravel again."

He laughed as he stood up.

"Just remember you're the one who has to look at this face afterwards."

She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"A few scars might actually improve that face."

He shook his head. It scared him a bit that she probably meant that. He made a show of looking her up and down.

"Well it's too bad we couldn't do anything to improve THAT."

She looked at him surprised, then kicked him in the shin. It hurt, but he ignored it and put a hand around on the small of her back.

"On second thought, I don't think there's anything that NEEDS improving." He said, looking into her eyes.

She turned red and this time he kissed her, but not on the cheek. This had become normal for them. Shortly after her kidnapping he had asked her on another date. This time they met without incident, and he ended up telling her that he liked her. She had looked at him for a moment and laughed. Then she stopped laughing and tears came to her eyes. He was surprised to learn that she had already liked him for a long time.

"Well, I'm hanging out with Freya here in a bit, so I'll see you later."

"Ok. Have fun, and watch out for kidnappers."

She laughed as she walked out the front gate. He felt sorry for any other would be kidnappers. After what had happened she decided to up her game in training, part of the reason she had wanted to start sparring. Also she had started making sure to lock her front door, if only to make him feel better.

"You lovebirds done out here?"

Sakaki walked outside, acting as if he hadn't been watching the whole time.

"You know, for all the kissing you two do, I'm surprised you get any actual sparring in."

"I'm still surprised you get any training done in between all those beers."

His master's eyes narrowed.

"You know... you've really been quick with those comebacks since you two started going out. I'm not sure how I feel about that... "

Kenichi wasn't sure how to respond.

"Don't worry about it kid, I'm a big boy. I can handle a few wry comments."

He patted him on the back, a bit harder than usual, then walked back inside. He passed Master Kensei on the way.

"Watch out, Ma, the kid's got a mouth on him now."

Master Kensei smiled and walked up to him.

"Kenichi... I'm going out of town. I have something I need to take care of and... well I'd like you to come with me."

Kenichi was surprised, this sounded like a job, which was unusual for him.

"Really? Is it a job?"

His master frowned.

"Not exactly. It's... personal..."

Even stranger.

"If you like, you can bring your girlfriend. It probably wouldn't hurt to have an extra person that could handle themselves in a... difficult situation..."

This time Kenichi frowned. This was beginning to sound dangerous, and he wasn't sure if he liked the idea of bringing Kisara into that. Still, with his master there it wasn't likely to get too bad, and a trip with Kisara sounded like fun.

"Ok... I'll let her know..."

Kensei smiled and nodded.

"We'll be leaving in a couple days, so be ready."

He walked away without saying anything else. Kenichi had a weird feeling about this, but surely it would be fine.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's note:

Sorry about the delay on this chapter. I've had some stuff come up recently and lost my momentum. I should have had some chapters written ahead of time, but I've basically been posting them as soon as I write them. I'm thankful for all the feedback I've gotten so far, and hope you continue to enjoy the story.

* * *

Chapter 13

Kisara let out a small moan as they kissed. She had her hands on the back of his head and she could feel one of his working its way up the inside of her shirt. She started to turn red, he had never been so forward in the past. Suddenly he pulled back from the kiss and looked her in the eyes. She blushed as he started to lift off her shirt, revealing her firm stomach and small chest. This was the one area in which she couldn't compare to the 'milk cow'. Kenichi smiled as he leaned forward to kiss her again. This time it was her turn. She reached for the bottom of his shirt and quickly lifted it over his head. She quietly gasped. She had seen him shirtless before, but never up this close. Every muscle defined so well and yet not so bulky that it looked gross. She really had to hand it to his masters, if this was the result of all those insane workouts that Kenichi had told her about, then they deserved a medal or something.

"God... you're sexy..." she sighed.

He smiled and turned red.

"I was going to say the same thing about you..."

He leaned forward and kissed her, running a hand over the front of her bra then reaching around behind her to try to unfasten it. She pushed him off when he wasn't able to and reached back to do it herself. If there was a limit to how much you could blush, she was approaching it now. Her bra fell away and her hands came up reflexively to cover herself. He caught her hands before she could, and he took a good look at her. She turned her face away.

"They're not mu-"

"They're perfect..." He interrupted, turning her face back towards his with one of his hands.

"But... they're small..."

She didn't know why that bothered her, but it did. Most guys seemed to prefer large breasts and that had always pissed her off. Kenichi shook his head, gently cupping a breast in his hand.

"See? Perfect." He repeated, eliciting another quiet moan when he took a nipple between his fingers.

They locked themselves in another kiss, hands exploring each other's bodies.

* * *

**The day before...**

They had gotten on the plane without incident. Kisara took the seat by the window. She had never been on a plane before and was excited to see the world from so high up. She still couldn't believe that this was even happening. Kenichi had called her that morning and asked her if she wanted to go on a trip with him and his master. She said yes without hesitation. The way Kenichi made them sound, these trips were nothing but non-stop ass kicking! She looked over at Kenichi in the next seat. He was nervously watching everyone as they moved to their seats. That's right, the last time he was on a plane he had to fight someone, and then the plane had to make an emergency landing because their fight had knocked out one of the engines. She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, making him look over at her.

"Are you nervous?" He asked.

"No, I'm excited. You looked like you might be nervous, though."

He chuckled.

"Heh, yeah. I guess after last time I'm a little on edge."

She gave his hand another squeeze and put her head back in the seat as the plane started to taxi out onto the runway. As the plane lined up to take off, she looked out the window and saw a familiar figure standing on the tarmac, waving.

"Uh..."

Kenichi looked over at her.

"What is it?"

She didn't say anything. She just pointed out the window. Master Kensei was supposed to be on this plane, but he was standing out there.

"What the... hell? What is he playing at?! He's supposed to be..."

Kenichi sat back into his seat and put his head in his hands.

"I... I think we've been had..."

She looked at him, and then back out at his master. The last she saw of him as the plane was taking off was him giving a thumbs up.

"Wait... what? What do you mean?"

Kenichi looked back at her and gave her a weak smile.

"I knew something was fishy about this job when he told me about it... He hardly ever goes out like this, and he was dodgier than usual about the details when I asked..."

She didn't understand.

"So what? This was all just to send us off on a trip together?"

Kenichi shrugged.

"It seems that way..."

Kisara leaned forward and looked at him suspiciously.

"So you're saying that he, on his own, decided to trick us into taking a-" she looked at the ticket, "-three day vacation... alone?"

"I didn't know!"

She sat back and smiled.

"Well... I guess we'll just have to make the best of it."

She squeezed his hand again. He looked like he was about to say something, but then he just smiled and nodded.

The plane ride was uneventful. She had been amazed at seeing everything from so high up, but then she started to feel a bit queasy so she leaned on Kenichi's shoulder and slept the rest of the way. After landing they headed for a hotel so they could leave their luggage. Kenichi spoke a bit nervously to the attendant at the front desk.

"We'll take... uh... two rooms..."

She stepped up beside him and smacked his arm.

"Just one room, please."

He looked at her surprised, face turning red.

"B-but..."

"Look you dummy, thanks to your master we're out here on our own. We can't afford two rooms."

Kenichi took the key to the room and they started walking up the stairs.

"Besides... we're dating, right? It's not so strange for us to share a room..."

She had said it, but she still blushed slightly. Sharing a room?

The room was smaller than she thought it would be. And there was only one bed. She hadn't really thought this through...

"I'll uh... sleep on the floor." Kenichi stammered.

She didn't say anything, they would cross that bridge when they came to it. For now, they put their luggage in the corner and left the room. They were both hungry and decided they needed to go find someplace to eat.

They found a little cafe not far from the hotel and decided to stop there. They talked about what they would do for the next few days, but only came up with a few ideas. Most of it just involved wandering around the city. They ended up spending the whole evening there, returning to their room when it started to get dark. She grabbed her luggage to get a change of clothes.

"I'm going to take a shower. If you peek... you'll regret it."

He sat on the floor and nodded. She was about to walk to the washroom when she noticed his bag. It was small and lumpy. She gave it a kick. It didn't feel like clothes so she picked it up and showed it to him.

"What the hell is this?"

"My... uh... luggage..."

She tossed it on the bed and opened it.

"Kenichi... this isn't luggage... this is just a large first aid kit..."

He smiled apologetically.

"I was packing for a job. It's usually pointless to pack more than one change of clothes since they end up getting torn."

She closed the bag, put it back, and headed to the shower.

"Well at least we know one thing we're doing tomorrow."

She took a long shower. Longer than she had intended. When she came out, Kenichi was snoring on the floor. She was disappointed that he didn't at least TRY to peek... She took a pillow off the bed and gently put it under his head then covered him with a spare blanket from the closet. She got into the bed and tried to go to sleep, but it wasn't easy knowing he was sleeping just feet away from her.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next morning, Kenichi woke up to a pillow colliding with his face. Kisara was standing over him, already dressed and ready to go. He sat up groggily and rubbed his neck. Sleeping on the floor like this made him feel sore and stiff. He got up and took a shower then they left. Their plans for the day, if you could call them that, consisted of wandering around the city and at some point going to buy him a change of clothes.

The morning passed uneventfully. They returned to the cafe from the day before to have lunch, went to a store and bought him some clothes, and spent some time in a park. It was nice, not having anything they needed to do. Just taking it easy the whole day together was something they couldn't do back home since they would likely run into someone they knew. Kenichi felt like he had spent the entire day just watching Kisara. She was tough, crass, even unruly. She hated being considered weaker than a man, and would fight anyone who suggested that she was. But then there was the side she tried to hide from people. She could be cute, bashful, caring... If there was one thing he knew now, it was how he felt about her. Thinking back, he had never had more than an intense crush on Miu. He was always making himself act in a way that he thought she would approve of. It would never have worked out, even if she had liked him. With Kisara he could be himself, and she constantly challenged him to step up, to be more of a man. He had never been this happy.

In the evening, as they cut through a side alley, they came across a group of men surrounding a woman.

"Comin' this way was a bad choice, lady. Now you get to... 'help' us with some things..."

The man shoved the woman to the ground and started to fumble with his belt. The men standing around him were grinning, making lewd gestures to each other. One of them looked over and noticed Kenichi and Kisara approaching. He tapped the first one on the arm and pointed in their direction.

"What the hell you kids doin' here? Just go back the way you came, if you know what's good for ya!"

Kenichi's anger flared. Like hell he was going to run away from this.

"I think you guys are the ones that should beat it!"

The men laughed at his choice of words.

"What do you think we're tryin' to do, kid?"

God damn disgusting perverts. Kenichi started walking towards them.

"Look kid, I gave you a chance, any closer and I'll have to- OOOF!"

Kenichi closed the remaining few feet quickly and kicked him right in the stomach. The man doubled over wheezing, causing his comrades to jump back then start circling him. Some of them pulled out knives, and the others found suitable weapons lying around. A knife wielder lunged at him. Kenichi stepped to the side and grabbed the guy's knife hand. He twisted hard and the man yelled and dropped the knife. In one smooth motion he yanked the man around and kicked him towards another advancing foe. They collided and fell to the ground. While his back was turned another one tried to attack him, but Kisara jumped in and landed a foot on the side of his head. He was down and out cold. Kenichi looked at Kisara, nodded, and they proceeded with the rest. One man tried to bring a lead pipe down with both hands on Kenichi's head, but he caught the pipe in one hand. The man's eyes grew wide with surprise as he couldn't budge the pipe from Kenichi's grip, even using both hands. The man tried to kick at him, but Kenichi blocked the kick with his foot and pulled the man forward, driving a knee into his ribs. There was an audible crack and the man stumbled backwards and fell. He looked over just in time to see Kisara kick an assailant's hand causing him to stab himself in the shoulder. She finished him off with a roundhouse to the face. Kenichi was distracted and a man came up behind him and grabbed his collar. Instead of struggling, he quickly slipped out of his shirt and circled around to his side. He grabbed the man by the wrist and jabbed at several pressure points. Both of the man's arms and a leg went limp and he crumpled to the ground, confused. They quickly finished off the remaining few. The woman who they had been harassing had escaped, and the men who were able to stand had already run off. Kenichi bent over and picked up his shirt. He was about to put it back on, but hesitated when he noticed that he was pretty sweaty. The shirt would stick to him. Maybe he should just wipe off with this one and put on his new one. He looked over at Kisara and noticed she was staring at him.

"What is it?"

She looked away quickly, turning red.

"N-nothing! We should just get out of here. If the police show up, this would look pretty bad without that lady to vouch for us."

Kenichi quickly slipped back into his shirt and nodded. They got out of there and headed back to the hotel. Kenichi stopped to grab them some drinks while Kisara went on ahead to the room. He thought about the day. It had been good, and there was still one day left on their vacation. He would have to do something nice for Master Kensei when he got back.

Drinks in hand, he walked through the door. As soon as he closed it something collided with him and sent the drinks falling to the floor. He was about to struggle, but then Kisara's lips pressed against his. When she pulled away from him he looked at her surprised.

"What was that about?"

She fidgeted a bit.

"Seeing you fight like that... it was so..."

Her face was red and she was breathing heavily. Her hair was still a mess from the fight and her clothes were clinging to her slightly damp skin. Fuck, she was so hot. He couldn't take it any more. He let go of his restraint and took her in his arms. They kissed passionately. Before he knew it, they were both shirtless. His fingers toyed with one of her nipples, and she let a small moan out into his kiss. He lowered his face to her breast and sucked a nipple into his mouth. She arched her back slightly and moaned again.

All of a sudden she grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him backwards onto the bed. She climbed on top of him, putting a leg on either side of his waist. Her hands were running over his chest and then she leaned down to take one of his own nipples into her mouth. After a moment he rolled her over on to her back and kissed her, their tongues exploring each other's mouths. He ran one of his hands down between her legs. Even through her pants he could tell she was wet. She shuddered and gasped as his fingers brushed against her sensitive spot. Her hands began to fumble at his pants. He stood up and moments later they were both completely naked. They had never gone this far before, and they both hesitated for a moment. Her eyes were focused between his legs. She unconsciously bit her lip then looked up into his eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

She took a quick breath and nodded, laying back on the bed again. Seeing her lay there completely naked was almost all he could take. He quickly leaned over and kissed her. She reached down and grabbed him, gently stroking up and down. His hand found its way back between her legs and she moaned again. He positioned himself over her and looked her in the eyes. She nodded again and he kissed her, slowly entering her for the first time.

Hours later, they were laying next to each other in bed. Neither had said anything for some time, they were just enjoying the silence of each other's company after the storm of passion they had just been through. Kenichi looked over at her.

"Kisara..." he began.

She looked over at him, face still red.

"... I love you..."

Her eyes narrowed and she grinned, smacking his arm.

"Fuck, Kenichi... you're such a wuss..."

He smiled and looked back up at the ceiling. Seconds later he felt her move up next to him, cuddling close. What she whispered in his ear made his heart leap.

"I love you too..."


End file.
